Watching Spanish director Gonzalo López-Gallego's conspiracy theory science fiction thriller "Apollo 18" reminded me of director Peter Hyams' 1978 sci-fi melodrama "Capricorn One" starring Elliot Gould, James Brolin, Sam Waterston, and O.J. Simpson. In "Capricorn One," when NASA had to scrub the first Mars landing, the space agency decided to fake it. Things grow complicated when the astronauts refuse to participate in the cover-up, and they are hunted down and killed. In "Apollo 18," the Pentagon dictates policy for the next mission to the Moon, but they keep everything shrouded in complete secrecy. "Apollo 18" resembles low-budget horror epics like "The Blair Witch Project" and the "Paranormal Activity" trilogy where the chills were captured on camera as they occur whether the characters are present or not. Apparently, everything that the "Apollo 18" crew shot with their video cameras got transmitted back to Mission Control because none of the spacecraft survived. According to the premise, not only did some anonymous individuals obtain access to these classified videos but they also edited the footage and then uploaded it to the Internet. The outcome of "Apollo 18" purports to be the reason that NASA never launched another Moon mission. Between the brooding opening and closing graphics about the Apollo program and the discovery of the footage, the action is suspensefully staged by López-Gallego, with realistic production values, atmospheric stock footage, and convincing performances. Warren Christie, Lloyd Owen, and Ryan Robbins play the doomed astronauts and register believably in their roles, especially Owen as the infected space man. Freshman scenarist Brian Miller and uncredited scribe Cory Goodman of "Priest" evoke genuine paranoia along the lines of the "Open Water" movies as our protagonists find themselves trapped literally between a rock and a hard place in this 86-minute, PG-13 rated opus.

Basically, the U.S. Department of the Defense blasts Lieutenant Colonel John Grey (Ryan Robbins of "Sanctuary"),Commander Nathan Walker (Lloyd Owen of "Miss Potter," and Captain Benjamin Anderson (Warren Christie of "Battlestar Galactica") into space to set-up several sophisticated detection devices on the Moon. Ostensibly, these detectors are designed to furnish the military with the most up-to-date, accurate intelligence about Soviet missile launches. Lieutenant Colonel Grey remains in the lunar orbiter nicknamed 'Freedom," while Commander Walker and Captain Anderson land the lunar module and establish a base camp with a rover. They do all the usual stuff, such like planting Old Glory and collecting Moon rocks. Later, inside the lunar module, they discover that somehow one of the rocks has gotten out of the sample collection bags. Meanwhile, something mysteriously interrupts their transmissions when they discuss their mission and later their predicament with NASA and then with the shady officials at the Pentagon. Indeed, our heroes encounter deadly aliens. These deadly aliens are not the variety that Hollywood usually serves up. They are unobtrusive and sneak up on the astronauts as they carry out their everyday chores. Nevertheless, what they lack in terms of a wicked appearance like the monsters in the "Alien" franchise, the "Predator" franchise, the "Species" trilogy, and the arachnoids in "Starship Troopers," these aliens make up for with sheer numbers and pugnacity. These are some nasty dastards, and they proliferate at the South Pole of the Moon. One of the aliens infiltrates Walker's suit and enters his torso. Anderson removes it and is puzzled by it. It appears to be a solid object without arms, legs, or a head. Our heroes go out for a ride and stumble onto the last thing that they could imagine that isn't either an alien or a monolith. The discovery that they make shakes the very foundation of their trust in both NASA and the Pentagon. Meanwhile, after the aliens attack, our heroes are told to remain where they are and perish as heroes because the Pentagon refuses to help them.

"Apollo 18" emerges as the kind of movie that you cannot reveal a lot about without spoiling the surprises. López-Gallego adopts the look and the feel of a documentary, and some of the footage appears to have been lensed as if it were designed for publicity news clips. The three man crew shoots most of the footage with NASA equipment while the on board NASA cameras and out-board Pentagon motion sensitive cameras record everything else. Indeed, despite the few opening moments during a family cook out, "Apollo 18" confines itself to three men. The action consists of astronauts performing their routine scientific chores in orbit around the Moon as well as on it. As far as they know, they are not expendable, but they learn later that they are not cleared to know everything important about the mission. The guys create a genuine sense of camaraderie. Their performances bristle with verve and nuance, particularly when Owen's Commander Walker goes bonkers. If you enjoy having the living daylights scared out of you by the sudden appearance of objects, aliens, and individuals, López-Gallego provides at least three solid examples, abetted in part by editor Patrick Lussier's shrewd cuts. The "Apollo 18" predators are not ostentatious, but they are nevertheless lethal. Mind you, Lionsgate Studio and López-Gallego are imitating the mockumentary marketing strategy of "The Blair Witch Project" to hype the film as the real McCoy. You would have to be hopelessly naïve to believe in such a premise. "The Los Angeles Times" has reported that NASA had nothing to do with "Apollo 18." Aside from the contrived circumstances under which the decades old footage eventually materializes, "Apollo 18" qualifies as a wonderfully creepy exercise in suspense and tension without a happy ending.

In 1970, Apollo missions 18, 19, 20 were canceled due to the budget. In 1972, Apollo 17 lands on the moon as the final official mission. In 2011, 84 hours of classified footage is revealed. Commander Nathan Walker, Captain Ben Anderson and Lieutenant Colonel John Grey had been sent on a secret mission to the moon but they were not alone.

By now, I'm a little tired of the found-footage premise. I imagine this would work much better with a straight forward telling. This could have been something great but it is as lifeless as the moon. Nothing remotely scary happens for the first half. The second half has some marginal body horror, creature horror, and zombie horror. Overall, it is marginal at its best and boring at its worst.

A not bad addition to the 'found footage' genre. APOLLO 18 is actually pretty good in places, building a nicely tense atmosphere through lots of understatement, a gradual but increasing sense of unease, and a subtlety that pays off in terms of extra realism.

The concept behind the film is great: what better backdrop for a creepy, slow-building horror film than the hostile, inhospitable, alien backdrop of the moon? The movie that builds around this concept is very predictable, but no less engaging for it. A couple of no-name actors (Warren Christie and Lloyd Owen) are picked to add to the documentary feel, and they both contribute sterling work.

Sad, then, that the eventual denouement and reveal is slightly lacklustre. Let's just say that the menace in the film is very obvious and probably the most predictable thing of all. Instead of being wowed by it, I ended up thinking 'oh, not that again'. Still, PROMETHEUS had the same problem, and that was a film with way more talent, resources and time spent on it. APOLLO 18 is a fun little film that achieves its objectives admirably.